Oprime

V right back man!

My Naso Tang was stung today. I hope it recovers. Dont have a tube anemone in your tank!

This little tank has come a long way in three months. Look at it then and look at it now! Don't have the heart to decomm it when i get a bigger tank....

DONT USE SEA WATER - USE SALT MIX GUYS!!

Yeah boy fairy wrasses and skunk tiles - die die must not try unless you have a cover!!

Everything should go well now....you don't need a sump dude! good skimmer and wavemaker is all you need. IF you want a sump you don't need holes if its a retrofit situation. You can check out some of the sites. They use PVC barrels etc.

There are divided views on this. Some people swear by using "filtered" sea water. Others prefer to stick to Salt mix. I have been using Red Sea Coral pro and i never had problems with ICH etc. What to do? Well if you want convenience and peace of mind i would say go with salt mix. It's really up to you at the end of the day. Try both and see which suits you better. Do a combination of the two if you want! At the end of the day its what works for you. My 2 footer is thriving and this is what works for me (FYI tank was set up in Mid June) :- 1. Salt Mix with DI water which is treated with API Anti Chlorine 2. 10% to 15% water change every week 3. 7 fish fed 2 times a day (Frozen Mysis in the morning and Henry Ko's reef gourmet in the evenings - with Omega one Pallets with Garlic) - IMO i must be over feeding them as i get cyano on my sand. I don't have a sump. I use a Red Sea air lift skimmer which is in the tank. I use the smallest capacity Hailea Chiller which is connected to an Eheim external canister filter which is filled with rings and activated carbon media. Plus a boyu wavemaker. That's it. When I first introduced my maroon clown into the tank (1st fish) there was no chiller. Then I introduced a six line wrasse. Still no chiller. This was when i noticed my wrasse developing a patch on his body. Got a chiller and he's aye okay now. All occupants are healthy and feeding well.

Adding another fish to this category - Chromis! A friend of mine discovered about 5 of them scattered everywhere around his 5 foot x 2.5 x 25 open top tank!

Dear Kelvin 1. First of all please don't give up. 2. If I were you I would do a 50% water change wait for 2 weeks then add fish again. Or you can do another 50% water change two weeks after the first water change then add fish. To be extra careful. 3. When you add the fish they will come from warmer water so I would suggest that you do all that is necessary to acclimatize them to the water temperature in your tank before putting them in as a precautionary measure. Please post some pictures of your tank here for us to see. Please also ready articles like this http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/disease/marineich.php 4. While you are waiting to add new fish you can also thrown in some snails / shrimp & Hermit Crabs. All the best bro!

http://www.reefecosystems.com/reef-facts/water-chemistry-and-parameters/calcium-alkalinity-and-magnesium/ Please read the above. If you have very unstable KH levels look into causes such as a large amount of decomposing organic material. Do frequent partial water changes. Cut down your feeding and look at whether you have organisms which are dying on your live rock etc.

DONT GIVE UP!!!! Its a challenge and soon , very soon you will master the hobby! Have faith. If you want your fish to make it they will!!

It is not ill advice and it certainly isn't misleading. If your calcium levels are within 380 to 450 ppm then there isn't an issue. These levels get depleted as your reef matures. Having said that if regular water changes are done the salt mix you use will take care of the extra calcium needed and having a calcium reactor if you have stoney corals is good if its used properly. Yes there is a relationship between calcium levels and alkalinity. If you test for Calcium and its too high i.e. in excess of 500ppm then there is a tendency for alkalinity to drop. Conversely if alkalinity levels get too high then then calcium levels will tend to fall. If your calcium levels are stable then your kh levels will be stable. (7 to 10 dkh).Dkh and kh are one and the same thing. Kh is basically the alkaline buffering capacity of your aquarium. It isn't a measure of the actual alkalinity level in your aquarium. PH levels will tell you how acidic or alkaline your aquarium is. if you have a very unstable KH level in your aquarium look into causes such as a large amount of decomposing organic material. We have all too often seen a mess created with the zealous use of test kits. Wrong readings and expired batches result in unnecessary dosing with disastrous consequences. This following article is useful. http://www.reefecosystems.com/reef-facts/water-chemistry-and-parameters/calcium-alkalinity-and-magnesium/

I wouldn't worry too much about that. It looks harmless. The things we should scrape off are sponges and ofcourse bristleworms are everybody's favourite enemy.

Why use actual sea water? Isn't is risky?

As simple as it comes!

There is always a hot debate on this. Glass thickness etc. 7.5 mm is thicker then my tank which is 6mm and its a 2 footer. The laws of physics in this case clearly state that its not the length of the tank that matters so much but its the height of the tank that determines the thickness of the glass. If the height is 46 cm all you need is 6mm thickness. Yours is 7.5mm so its pretty safe. What is the height of your tank and is it a Juwel tank? Juwel tanks have adequate bracing and reinforcements if you want to convert it into a marine tank.

Wonder why the heck do they even sell brine shrimp! YOUSLESS. Some people will even say no need to change water - top up enough! The best part is they say it with such confidence! JIA LAT one!!! hahahahaha anyway this post is damn funny! you guys crack me up!!

Sometimes it appears that you are getting a small electric shock but that isnt the case. Its because you have a break in the skin of one of your fingers and the effect of the salt water gives you that tingling sensation.

The sheet of styrofoam will be held firmly in place by heck of a lot of live rock so its not going to float. I've seen it done in many set ups and i'm asking if it makes sense to do that because if during the scaping a piece of rock tumbles onto the bare bottom glass panel you could end up cracking the tank. Any views on this?

Well done - good choice of live rock. Where did you get it from?

Thats good stuff. Ricordea

Wouldn't it better to have a styrofoam layer then place the live rock on that layer? Any views?

Just consulted with an expert and he says dont use egg crate. Let the live rock sit on the tank bottom then add sand! Apologies......

Soak in Garlic juice:-) What say you Desi?

The best way to do it, IMO, is like this:- 1. Put a layer of egg crate into the empty tank. 2. Place your live rock onto the egg crates. 3. Pour the sand in 4. Add the sea water (prepared by using salt mix with ro/di water, treated with anti chlorine) Once this done you can turn on your wavemaker etc. VOILA!